Tamil-Canadian hip-hop artist Shan Vincent de Paul’s highly-anticipated album Made in Jaffna released worldwide on September 3. The 14-track album is deeply centred around the themes of identity, perseverance and reconciliation, while putting SVDP’s lyricism and craftsmanship on full display.
To be released on the artist-centric platform and label maajja – SVDP is one of maajja’s core artists – Made in Jaffna is the rapper and visual artist’s most compelling project to date.
Known to many for his razor-sharp songwriting, skilled rapping skills and strong visual aesthetic, SVDP has been at the forefront of the global South Asian arts renaissance and Made in Jaffna exemplifies why he’s regarded so highly in the world of hip-hop.
Four singles from the album have already been released – ‘Savage’, ‘Neeye Oli’ ft Navz-47 and Santhosh Narayanan, ‘Hard Times’ ft TiKA and ‘Uyire’ ft Kanchan. The title track will also be released on Sept 5th.
Fierce and unfiltered, ‘Savage’ was a peek into SVDP’s head and at his ambition. The trap-inspired English-Tamil ‘Neeye Oli’ created as anthem for perseverance showcased Shan’s writing prowess while the feel-good earworm ‘Hard Times’ was a much-anticipated collaboration between two of Toronto’s most exciting creatives. SVDP’s long-time collaborator and Mrithangam Raps co-creator Yanchan came on board to create a poignant, personal and powerful ballad ‘Uyire’.
The title track Made in Jaffna is a scorching tale of personal growth and resilience where the Toronto-based artist lays bare his soul. “It is the resilience of the Tamil people captured through my family’s experience and my personal journey,” says SVDP.
“This truly is my origin story containing all of the ugly details as well as the most glorious moments of perseverance that brought me here today. It’s the story of a community of people that have been displaced and ignored that have now found their voice through the diaspora. Taking place in a magical surreal world where the ancient past meets the future,” he adds.
Made in Jaffna also includes two previously released tracks ‘Heaven’, a collaboration with another Canadian-Tamil artist Navz-47 and the emotional and powerful ‘One Hundred Thousand Flowers’ that tackled the issue of Tamil genocide in Sri Lanka that began with anti-Tamil pogroms in 1956 and worsened during the 26-year-long military campaign waged by LTTE against the Sri Lankan government.
